peltast

British

/ ˈpɛltæst /

noun

(in ancient Greece) a lightly armed foot soldier

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of peltast

C17: from Latin peltasta, from Greek peltastēs soldier equipped with a pelta, a small leather shield

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

peltast

Though his men were forming on the hill, Cleon fled as fast as he could on the approach of the enemy, but was pursued and slain by a Thracian peltast.

From A Smaller history of Greece From the earliest times to the Roman conquest by Sir William Smith

"No, nor yet a peltast"; but he had been ordered by his messmates to drive a mule, although he was a free man.

From Anabasis by Henry Graham Dakyns

The critic is no hero: he is at best but a skipping peltast, engaged as often as not in inglorious flight.

From Essays by Arthur Christopher Benson

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023